Word Origin & History

duck O.E. duce (found only in gen. ducan) "a duck," lit. "a ducker," presumed to be from O.E. *ducan "to duck" (see duck (v.)), replaced O.E. ened as the name for the bird, this being from PIE *aneti-, the root of the "duck" noun in most I.E. languages. As a term of endearment, attested from 1580s. duck-walk is 1930s; duck soup "anything easily done" is from 1908. Duck's ass haircut is from 1951. Ducks-and-drakes, skipping flat stones on water, is from 1580s; the figurative sense of "throwing something away recklessly" is c.1600.

Example Sentences for duck

Meanwhile the duck was stretched to an alarming length between them.

Who, inquired young Harrow, turning toward Lethbridge—who is that duck?

Inside the ropes, through which he must duck to enter the ring, Danny waited for him.

The boat behaved admirably, rising over the seas like a duck.

There was a degree of uneasiness felt after we were informed of the horror of Duck Lake.

Clean the duck, putting aside the giblets, and cut off the head and legs.

He took to the farm as natural as a duck takes to the water.

English of any leader, is often degraded to Duck, whence the dim.

On the road I brought down a duck, which Negro went up to as if trained for shooting, and which I picked up without dismounting.

I have been told all that a hundred times over; and it runs off me like water off a duck's back.